National Interest: Meaning,

Components and Methods

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‘National Interest’ is a key concept in International Relations. All the

nations are always engaged in the process of fulfilling or securing the
goals of their national interests. The foreign policy of each nation is
formulated on the basis of its national interest and it is always at work
for securing its goals. It is a universally accepted right of each state to
secure its national interests. A state always tries to justify its actions
on the basis of its national interest. The behaviour of a state is always
conditioned and governed by its national interests. Hence it is
essential for us to know the meaning and content of National Interest.

“The meaning of national interest is survival—the protection of

physical, political and cultural identity against encroachments by
other nation-states”—Morgenthau.

Meaning of National Interest

National Interest is a vague and ambiguous term that carries a
meaning according to the context in which it is used. Statesmen and
policy-makers have always used it in ways suitable to them and to
their objective of justifying the actions of their states. Hitler justified
expansionist policies in the name of “German national interests.”
The US presidents have always justified their decisions to go in for the
development of more and more destructive weapons in the interest of
“US national interest.” To build up a strong nuclear base at Diego
Garcia was justified by the USA in the name of meeting the challenge
posed by erstwhile USSR as well as for protecting the US interests in
the Indian Ocean. During 1979-89, (erstwhile) USSR justified its
intervention in Afghanistan in the name of “Soviet national interests”.

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China justified its border disputes with India and the Soviet Union in
the name of attempts to secure the national interests of China. Now
the P-5 countries talk of Non- proliferation and arms control in terms
of the national interests of all the nations.

All these and many more examples can be quoted to stress the
ambiguity that surrounds the concept of National Interest. This
ambiguity hinders the process of formulating a universally accepted
definition of National Interest. However, several scholars have tried to
define National Interest.

Definition of National Interest:

(1) National Interest means: “The general, long term and continuing
purpose which the state, the nation, and the government all see
themselves as serving.” —Charles Lerche and Abdul

(2) National Interest is: “What a nation feels to be necessary to its

security and well being … National interest reflects the general and
continuing ends for which a nation acts.” —Brookings Institution
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(3) “National Interest is, that which states seek to protect or achieve in
relation to each other. It means desires on the part of sovereign
states.” —Vernon Von Dyke

(4) “The meaning of national interest is survival—the protection of

physical, political and cultural identity against encroachments by
other nation-states”. —Morgenthau
(5) National Interest means: “The values, desires and interests which
states seek to protect or achieve in relation to each other” “desires on
the part of sovereign states”. —V.V. Dyke

National Interests can as defined as the claims, objectives, goals,

demands and interests which a nation always tries to preserve,
protect, defend and secure in relations with other nations.

Components of National Interest:

In describing the national interests that nations seek to
secure a two-fold classification is generally made:
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(A) Necessary or Vital Components of National Interest and

(B) Variable or Non-vital Components of National Interests.

(A) Necessary or Vital Components:

According to Morgenthau, the vital components of the national
interests that a foreign policy seeks to secure are survival or identity.
He sub-divides identity into three parts: Physical identity. Political
identity and Cultural identity.

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Physical identity includes territorial identity. Political identity means

politico- economic system and Cultural identity stands for historical
values that are upheld by a nation as part of its cultural heritage. These
are called vital components because these are essential for the survival
of the nation and can be easily identified and examined. A nation even
decides to go to war for securing or protecting her vital interests.

A nation always formulates its foreign policy decisions with a view to

secure and strengthens its security. The attempts to secure
international peace and security, that nations are currently making,
are being made because today the security of each state stands
inseparably linked up with international peace and security. Security
is, thus, a vital component of national interest. Each nation always
tries to secure its vital interests even by means of war.

(B) Non-vital or Variable Components of National Interest:

The non-vital components are those parts of national interest which
are determined either by circumstances or by the necessity of securing
the vital components. These are determined by a host of factors—the
decision-makers, public opinion, party politics, sectional or group
interests and political and moral folkways.

“These variable interests are those desires of individual states which

they would, no doubt, like to see fulfilled but for which they will not go
to war. Whereas the vital interests may be taken as goals, the
secondary interests may be termed as objectives of foreign policy.”

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These objectives have been listed by V.V. Dyke and his list includes:
Prosperity, Peace, Ideology, Justice, Prestige, Aggrandisement and
Power. Though each state defines these objectives in a manner which
suits its interests in changing circumstances, yet these objectives can
be described as common to almost all states. Thus, national interest
which a nation seeks to secure can be generally categorized into these
two parts.

Classification of National Interests:

In order to be more precise in examining the interest which a nation
seeks to secure, Thomas W. Robinson presents a six fold classification
of interests which nations try to secure.

1. The Primary Interests:

These are those interests in respect of which no nation can
compromise. It includes the preservation of physical, political and
cultural identity against possible encroachments by other states. A
state has to defend these at all costs.

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2. Secondary Interests:
These are less important than the primary interests. Secondary
Interests are quite vital for the existence of the state. This includes the
protection of the citizens abroad and ensuring of diplomatic
immunities for the diplomatic staff.

3. Permanent Interests:
These refer to the relatively constant long-term interests of the state.
These are subject to very slow changes. The US interest to preserve its
spheres of influence and to maintain freedom of navigation in all the
oceans is the examples of such interests.

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4. Variable Interests:
Such interests are those interests of a nation which are considered
vital for national good in a given set of circumstances. In this sense
these can diverge from both primary and permanent interests. The
variable interests are largely determined by “the cross currents of
personalities, public opinion, sectional interests, partisan politics and
political and moral folkways.”

5. The General Interests:

General interests of a nation refer to those positive conditions which
apply to a large number of nations or in several specified fields such as
economic, trade, diplomatic relations etc. To maintain international
peace is a general interest of all the nations. Similar is the case of
disarmament and arms control.

6. Specific Interests:
These are the logical outgrowths of the general interests and these are
defined in terms of time and space. To secure the economic rights of
the Third World countries through the securing of a New International
Economic Order is a specific interest of India and other developing
countries.

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International Interests:
Besides these six categories of national interest, T.W. Robinson also
refers to three international interests—identical interests,
complementary interests and conflicting interests.

The first category includes those interests which are common to a

large number of states; the second category refers to those interests,
which though not identical, can form the basis of agreement on some
specific issues; and the third category includes those interests which
are neither complementary nor identical.

However, this classification is neither absolute nor complete. The

complementary interests can, with the passage of time, become
identical interests and conflicting interests can become
complementary interests. The study of national interest of a nation
involves an examination of all these vital and non-vital components of
national interest. The six fold classificatory scheme offered by T. W.
Robinson can be of great help to us for analyzing the national interests
of all nations. Such a study can help us to examine the behaviour of
nations in international relations.

Methods for the Securing of National Interest:

To secure the goals and objectives of her national interest is the
paramount right and duty of every nation. Nations are always at work
to secure their national interests and in doing so they adopt a number
of methods.

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The following are the five popular methods or instruments

which are usually employed by a nation for securing her
national interests in international relations:
1. Diplomacy as a Means of National Interests:
Diplomacy is a universally accepted means for securing national
interests. It is through diplomacy that the foreign policy of a nation
travels to other nations. It seeks to secure the goals of national
interests. Diplomats establish contacts with the decision-makers and
diplomats of other nations and conduct negotiations for achieving the
desired goals and objectives of national interests of their nation.

The art of diplomacy involves the presentation of the goals and

objectives of national interest in such a way as can persuade others to
accept these as just and rightful demands of the nation. Diplomats use
persuasion and threats, rewards and threats of denial of rewards as
the means for exercising power and securing goals of national interest
as defined by foreign policy of their nation.

Diplomatic negotiations constitute the most effective means of

conflict-resolution and for reconciling the divergent interests of the
state. Through mutual give and take, accommodation and
reconciliation, diplomacy tries to secure the desired goals and
objectives of national interest.

As an instrument of securing national interest, diplomacy is a

universally recognized and most frequently used means. Morgenthau
regards diplomacy as the most primary means. However, all the
objectives and goals of national interest cannot be secured through
diplomacy.

2. Propaganda:
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The second important method for securing national interest is

propaganda. Propaganda is the art of salesmanship. It is the art of
convincing others about the justness of the goals and objectives or
ends which are desired to be secured. It consists of the attempt to
impress upon nations the necessity of securing the goals which a
nation wishes to achieve.

“Propaganda is a systematic attempt to affect the minds, emotions and

actions of a given group for a specific public purpose.” —Frankel

It is directly addressed to the people of other states and its aim is

always to secure the self-interests—interests which are governed
exclusively by the national interests of the propagandist.

The revolutionary development of the means of communications

(Internet) in the recent times has increased the scope of propaganda
as a means for securing support for goals of national interest.
3. Economic Means:
The rich and developed nations use economic aid and loans as the
means for securing their interests in international relations. The
existence of a very wide gap between the rich and poor countries
provides a big opportunity to the rich nations for promoting their
interests vis-a-vis the poor nations.

The dependence of the poor and lowly- developed nations upon the
rich and developed nations for the import of industrial goods,
technological know-how, foreign aid, armaments and for selling raw
materials, has been responsible for strengthening the role of economic
instruments of foreign policy. In this era of Globalisation conduct of
international economic relation has emerged as a key means of
national interests.

4. Alliances and Treaties:

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Alliances and Treaties are concluded by two or more states for

securing their common interests. This device is mostly used for
securing identical and complementary interests. However, even
conflictual interests may lead to alliances and treaties with like-
minded states against the common rivals or opponents.

Alliances and treaties make it a legal obligation for the members of the
alliances or signatories of the treaties to work for the promotion of
agreed common interests. The alliances may be concluded for serving
a particular specific interest or for securing a number of common
interests. The nature of an alliance depends upon the nature of
interest which is sought to be secured.

Accordingly, the alliances are either military or economic in nature.

The need for securing the security of capitalist democratic states
against the expanding ‘communist menace’ led to the creation of
military alliances like NATO, SEATO, CENTO, ANZUS etc. Likewise,
the need to meet the threat to socialism led to the conclusion of
Warsaw Pact among the communist countries.

The need for the economic reconstruction of Europe after the Second
World War led to the establishment of European Common Market
(Now European Union) and several other economic agencies. The
needs of Indian national interests in 1971 led to the conclusion of the
Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation with the (erstwhile)
Soviet Union. Alliances and Treaties are thus popular means for
securing national interests.

5. Coercive Means:
The role of power in international relations is a recognized fact. It is an
unwritten law of international intercourse that nations can use force
for securing their national interests. International Law also recognizes
coercive means short of war as the methods that can be used by states
for fulfilling their desired goals and objectives. Intervention, Non-
intercourse, embargoes, boycotts, reprisals, retortion, retaliation,
severance of relations and pacific biocides are the popular coercive
means which can be used by a nation to force others to accept a
particular course of behaviour or to refrain from a course which is
considered harmful by the nation using coercive means.

War and Aggression have been declared illegal means, yet these
continue to be used by the states in actual course of international
relations. Today, nations fully realize the importance of peaceful
means of conflict-resolution like negotiations, and diplomacy as the
ideal methods for promoting their national interests. Yet at the same
time these continue to use coercive means, whenever they find it
expedient and necessary. Military power is still regarded as a major
part of national power and is often used by a nation for securing its
desired goals and objectives.

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The use of military power against international terrorism now stands

universally accepted as a natural and just means for fighting the
menace. Today world public opinion accepts the use of war and other
forcible means for the elimination of international terrorism.

All these means are used by all the nations for securing their national
interests. Nations have the right and duty to secure their national
interests and they have the freedom to choose the requisite means for
this purpose. They can use peaceful or coercive means as and when
they may desire or deem essential.

However, in the interest of international peace, security and

prosperity, nations are expected to refrain from using coercive means
particular war and aggression. These are expected to depend upon
peaceful means for the settlement of disputes and for securing their
interests.

While formulating the goals and objectives of national interest, all the
nations must make honest attempts to make these compatible with the
international interests of Peace, Security environmental protection,
protection of human rights and Sustainable Development.

Peaceful coexistence, peaceful conflict-resolution and purposeful

mutual cooperation for development are the common and shared
interests of all the nations. As such, along with the promotion of their
national interests, the nations must try to protect and promote
common interests in the larger interest of the whole international
community.

All this makes it essential for every nation to formulate its foreign
policy and to conduct its relations with other nations on the basis of its
national interests, as interpreted and defined in harmony with the
common interests of the humankind. The aim of foreign policy is to
secure the defined goals of national interest by the use of the national
power.